Equally expansive is the reach of Byzantium’s sphere of influence. This is an important consideration for the argument of a Golden Age as it demonstrates the extent to which Byzantium led and affected neighbouring powers, thus ensuring their own security as well as being regarded as formidable. As a Christian empire, Byzantium’s military dominance led the way to peace brokerage through the form of conversion. Not only does this unite various empires into closer political, religious, and cultural relations, but this grounds the legacy of Byzantium in the histories of other empires as well. For example, Emperor Basil II had allied with Vladimir Kiev of Russia and through marriage ties, had facilitated the baptism of the Russian Prince in 989, …show more content…
Whether music, fine art, drama, pottery or literature, the overall production of Byzantine arts flourished under the Macedonians. Named the “Macedonian Renaissance”, culture of this era was known for religious as well as secular works that proliferated throughout the empire and continent as a whole. With Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus as the patron of arts and literature, the empire was “marked by intense cultural activity in the field of learning, literature, education, and art.” First, this paper will consider visual arts before examining the literary aspect of the Golden Age. Since the iconoclasm controversy was settled for over a century, Constantinople became an important centre for religious artistic development that had as much breadth and reach as the Church. For example, the famous excavation site of Santa Maria Antica at Rome was revitalized with Byzantine paintings, frescoes, and architectural aspects, in the ninth century, and regarded as possibly the best product of the Macedonian Renaissance. Additionally, the church of St. Sophia of Kiev in Russia, as well as many others in Russia, also belonged to the artistic and architectural Byzantine tradition of the Macedonian emperors. Moreover, secular art flourished as Byzantines returned to their Greco-Roman heritage, leading to a revitalization of classical Greek scholarship and classics. As such the Macedonian era saw artists more commonly adopting naturalism and greater realism, a model that extends to Alexandria. In comparison, the rise of Komnenoi in the years after the last Macedonian emperor saw a decreased focus on art production, and what did exist was considered to be drier, and more rigid art that did not hold the same wide
Through this we are able to see the importance of Vladimir’s transition to Christianity because the writers of the Chronicle portray the act of moving from paganism to Christianity as one of divine will rather than desires of the flesh. This justification of conversion allows the reader to understand the importance of statewide adaptation in the world of Christian Slavs. To further our understanding of the deep rooted awe felt towards Vladimir’s Christianization of Russia, the Chronicle allows the reader specific examples of divine miracles which illustrate the admiration Slavs felt towards the conversion of Russia. When Vladimir attacks the Greek city of Kherson, he and his armies are unsuccessful and become exhausted by the constant charge on the cities walls. Relief finally comes in the form of a man set on aiding the ever-persistent Vladimir.
In conclusion, although Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II and Augustus of Primaporta, do appear very different, come from entirely different geographic regions and were separated by thousands of years, they do have many things in common. When we consider subject, style, and function; perhaps other works of art have more in common than they appear to have.
Petersen, Thalia Gouma "Why is the Alexiad a Masterpiece of Byzantine Literature." Peterson, Thalia Gouma. Anna Kiomnene and her Times. New York: Garland Publishers, 2000. 169-86. Print
...t advances in art and literature in the Islamic Caliphates during its rise differed greatly from the few advances during the rise of the Byzantine Empire,
The object of this book, Early Medieval Art, is to convey the theme “tradition not only receives and transforms, it literally invents a tradition upon which it founded itself” (p. 15) concerning art of the early medieval era. The purpose of this book is to summarize and offer knowledge of medieval art, that will then be included in the greater series of books by other specialists for Oxford University Press. Lawrence Nees accomplished his argument successfully by following the chronological production of the art and the traditions that are imbedded within them. Although, his thesis is strongly supported, Ness’ failure is found in his over reliance on the artwork itself, which then leads to the masking of his personal arguments.
In the following essay, I will be comparing the Hagia Sophia in the City of Istanbul, and the Suleymaniye Mosque of Istanbul. Both of these pieces of art are very significant to the in modern-day Turkey. The art pieces will be covered in more detail further on in this comparative essay, and finally, I will be judging the pieces at the end of this essay
The Byzantine Empire was a primarily Christian empire whose reign started in 330 A.D and ended in 1453 A.D with the capturing of the its capital, Constantinople by the Muslim Sultan Mehmed II. In the years following the fall of the Byzantines, many of the Christian basilicas were transformed into mosques for Islamic worship, inspiring many artists to create works that embodied their religious politics. One of the pieces created following the fall of the Byzantine Empire is the painting of Yusuf Fleeing Zulayhka, created in 1488 by Kamal al-Din Bihzad, a famous Persian painter who worked under the patronage of several Persian sultans. The illustration depicts Yusuf’s struggle to escape his master’s wife Zulaykha as she chases him through her elaborate palace in an attempt to seduce him. The representation was made using paint, ink and gold, and features jewel-like colors in order to portray the extravagancy of the palace Zulayhka has built specifically for the seduction of Yusuf (Stokstad 286). This essay will assess three accounts of the story of Yusuf and Zulaykha and the reasoning behind why the narrative is often labelled as a cautionary tale and of what kind.
“The Passions of Christ: A Journey Through Byzantine Art.” Kypros-Net: “The World of Cyprus”. 18 Oct. 2004 <http://kypros.org/Byzantine/>.
Art was viewed in a different sense in the fourteenth century. It had a more active role and was not just decoration, but a vital component of worship and pr...
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
Winckelmann like Vasari dealt greatly with the artistic problems concerning representation and imitation of nature including the need for the human beauty in a figure. However he also was interested in art criticism based in historical timelines and causes for the change and evolution of modern art. This greatly seen in this article not only in his thesis that great contemporary art is based in antiquity but also in his explanation for why the Greek art was so well done and why it has risen back into the hands of modern art. First, Greek work came back to contemporary society greatly by the monarch led by Titus who brought authentic work from Greek masters for his artists to learn from and imitate. He also discusses the correlation between the bodies, like that of the Theseus model, with the Greek lifestyle they lived based heavily on training for the Olympic games and the resemblance of youth’s bodies to godlike figures. Great masters of contemporary work use these same bodily model and ideal of beauty in their work. Winckelmann states that their present good taste is due to the fact that they, “partook of good taste at its source.” Overall the Greeks set up rules of art that could be imitated to capture nature and its ideal form of beauty, an idea that many sought to accomplish.
What do Plato, Aristotle, mosaics, and icons have in common? They are all important parts of Byzantine culture, which spans the course of over 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome to the decline of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines were important facilitators of the Renaissance. The Byzantines preserved Greek and Roman traditions and created many of their own, which would have a great impact during the Renaissance.
...o understanding and appreciating Greek art is significant, but as seen through the writings of Gazda, Marvin and Ellen, the practice of appreciating Greek sculpture as presented by the conservative historians is of detriment to the writings and perceptions of historians, as well as the general education of the public. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the abovementioned historians during their times of writings, methodology including Kopienkritik has remained a valued and prevalent approach to judging and analysing of both Greek and Roman sculpture, despite increased criticism. All of these factors serve to undermine the validity of the construct, and show that while the construct may have suited and served the purposes of those who created it, it does nothing to legitimately further proper and rational history of Greek and more specifically, Roman sculpture.
The shift between the Middle Ages and Renaissance was documented in art for future generations. It is because of the changes in art during this time that art historians today understand the historical placement and the socio-economic, political, and religious changes of the time. Art is a visual interpretation of one’s beliefs and way of life; it is through the art from these periods that we today understand exactly what was taking place and why it was happening. These shifts did not happen overnight, but instead changed gradually though years and years of art, and it is through them that we have record of some of the most important changes of historic times.
Byzantine art had many basic characteristics. The first was expressionistic using color and emotion. Many of the are lacked depth in a two dimensional fashion. The art was symbolic in nature, decorative, detailed. The figures are stiff and ...